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Inside Raila’s six hours crisis talks on poll results

August 16th, 2017 3 min read

National Super Alliance (Nasa) leader Raila Odinga put off to Wednesday an announcement on his next course of action after he rejected the presidential results of last week’s General Election.

The opposition leader Tuesday chaired a six-hour meeting with his co-principals in Nairobi during which they examined forms 34A and 34B to establish if the results declared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) were consistent with those contained in the forms.

In a statement released shortly after the six-hour meeting, Nasa campaign team leader Musalia Mudavadi said the opposition coalition would make the announcement Wednesday.

“Owing to the urgency, complexity and delicate nature of issues Nasa Summit is handling, our consultations are on going and progressing well,” said Mr Mudavadi.

“We regret that the consultations are taking longer than anticipated and Nasa will, therefore, not address Kenyans as projected today. Nasa will issue a comprehensive statement to the nation tomorrow (Wednesday),” he said.

UN DECLINES REQUEST

Mr Mudavadi spoke as the UN opted to keep off the election results dispute by declining Mr Odinga’s request for a review of the poll.

On Tuesday, Nasa co-principal and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula said Nasa leaders had spent the better part of the day holed up in the meeting to assess their options.

“We had a marathon meeting from 9am up to 3pm to discuss several issues. We have scanned through the forms and I can tell you we are very pleased with what we saw,” he stated without giving further details.

Those in Tuesday’s meeting, included Mr Odinga, Mr Mudavadi, Mr Wetang’ula, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and former Bomet governor Isaac Ruto. Also present was Siaya Senator James Orengo who was Mr Odinga’s deputy chief agent during the election and former Machakos senator Johnson Muthama.

Mr Orengo and Mr Muthama are members of the Nasa Summit, alongside Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu, who was not present.

“Only Eseli was not present but we recorded his apologies as he was attending to other matters,” said Mr Wetang’ula.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT

On Sunday, while touring Nairobi’s Kibera slum to mourn victims of alleged police brutality following three days of post election protests in various parts of the country, Mr Odinga urged his supporters not to report to work on Monday but instead wait for a major announcement on his next move yesterday.

Mr Orengo has repeatedly stated that Mr Odinga will not lodge a petition at the Supreme Court challenging President Kenyatta’s victory, terming it an exercise in futility.

A source who attended Tuesday’s meeting said Nasa principals were divided over the next course of action, with one group preferring a call to mass action to push their cause while another was opposed to such a move.

The anti-mass action group was of the view that they should avoid a confrontational approach that might lead to deaths and injuries, which will be ultimately blamed on them.

They also argued that such an approach, besides being sure to achieve very little, will take away any support they have from the international community.

SUPREME COURT

The meeting was, however, unanimous that filing a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the results was out of the question.

“They all agree that it is not the way to go, given past experience,” said the source.

The principals also agreed with Mr Odinga that conceding defeat would not only amount to “endorsing a stolen election” but would perpetuate such malpractice in future.

Speaking on Monday, President Kenyatta tried to draw a line under the election and its aftermath, saying: “Kenyans have said that the election is behind them, the majority have returned to work.”